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enC&L's Saturday Night Chiller Theater: Lisa And The Devil (1973)https://crooksandliars.com/2016/12/cls-saturday-night-chiller-theater-lisa
<div class="node-media"></div><p>A little-seen classic directed by Italian horror film master, Mario Bava, this could be the only film where Telly Savalas plays the Devil. A fussy and overworked Devil, who oversees an seemingly endless cycle of jealousy, betrayal and murder in which our doomed lovers are trapped.</p>
<p>Stories of existentialist doom and repetition general suck as engaging theater, so Bava works hard to make the colors pop, the plot move along at a lively pace, the camera do things that cameras did not generally do in 1973, and he wisely centers the film around Salavas' delightful performance. </p>
<p>Historical note: This is considered to be one of Bava's "purest" works, in which he was give maximum license to make whatever kind of film he wanted, exactly as he saw fit. The film was also a commercial flop when it was originally released, so producer cooked up a additional story-line about demonic possession and re-cut into the film in hopes of riding the capitalizing on the success of The Exorcist which was released on the day after Christmas in 1973. The hacked-up version was release in the United States as "The House of Exorcism" and it you ever saw it, well, this should help get the taste out of your mouth.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>Chiller TheaterSun, 04 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000driftglass125423 at https://crooksandliars.comC&L's Saturday Night Chiller Theater: Duel (1971)https://crooksandliars.com/2016/11/cls-saturday-night-chiller-theater-duel
<div class="node-media"></div><p>In 1971 this kid Steve Spielberg has a neat idea for a movie. What about a fight to the death between an unstoppable monster that no one believes is real, and an overmatched and unprepared protagonist?</p>
<p>In 1971 that TV movie was "Duel". Then in 1975 that wide-release movie was "Jaws". Check out the similarities...</p>
<p>Youtube says "Duel is a 1971 television (and later full-length theatrical) thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Richard Matheson, based on Matheson's short story of the same name."</p>
<p>Enjoy...</p><br style="clear:both" /> <div class="clab-inline-atend clearfix"><div class="clab-block clab-box-sized clearfix" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div class="clab-body" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div id='div-gpt-ad-1386288741770-3' style='width:300px; height:250px;'>
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<div class="node-media"><img src="https://crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/node_primary/primary_image/16/11/thestrangerposter.jpg" alt="C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater: The Stranger (1946)" title="C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater: The Stranger (1946)" width="640" height="500" class="imagecache imagecache-node_primary imagecache-default imagecache-node_primary_default"/></div><p>There's a charming monster in our midst and he's getting away with murder!</p>
<p>From the density and detail of the backgrounds to the amazing camera work, "The Stranger" is full of signature Orson Welles' touches, but my favorite is Welles' behind-the-scenes decision to use very long shots (the scene between Kindler and Meinike in the woods is actually longer that the famous opening scene of "Touch of Evil") in order to flummox the slice-and-dice plans of the editor - (Ernest J. Nims, the "supercutter") the studio had demanded Welles work under - in exchange for funding his film. </p>
<p>"The Stranger" is a plot-driven, studio project that Welles took on specifically to prove that he could make that kind of film. It was also -- believe it or not -- the only Welles picture that could be considered a box-office "hit" during its original run.</p>
<p>A genuine, suspenseful post-war film noir from Woodstock, Illinois' most famous son. </p>
<p>Enjoy!</p><br style="clear:both" /> <div class="clab-inline-atend clearfix"><div class="clab-block clab-box-sized clearfix" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div class="clab-body" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div id='div-gpt-ad-1386288741770-3' style='width:300px; height:250px;'>
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<div class="node-media"><img src="https://crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/node_primary/primary_image/16/11/hhh.jpg" alt="C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater: House On Haunted Hill (1959) " title="C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater: House On Haunted Hill (1959) " width="640" height="508" class="imagecache imagecache-node_primary imagecache-default imagecache-node_primary_default"/></div><p>If you ever saw <a href="https://youtu.be/0wwAH5vJq6g">the 1993 movie "Matinee"</a> with John Goodman, you are already familiar with the work of William Castle, even if you don't know it. Castle's autobiography, </p>
<p>"Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America!" </p>
<p>...pretty much sums us his style of movie-making. He almost hit it big when he bought the option on "Rosemary's Baby" but the studio made him hand it over to Polanski.</p>
<p>Still a minor classic after the wretched remake, "House on Haunted Hill" is still a ball, even during the cheesy climax. Since this was filmed in "Emergo", if you want the Full!Terrifying!Effect! you'll need the special glasses...or a piece of red and blue cellophane. You should also rig up a skeleton with red lighted eye sockets attached to float over you during the Exciting! Final! Moments of the film.</p>
<p>Or you can just kick back with a bowl of popcorn and enjoy this Vincent Price vehicle from a different age.</p><br style="clear:both" /> <div class="clab-inline-atend clearfix"><div class="clab-block clab-box-sized clearfix" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div class="clab-body" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div id='div-gpt-ad-1386288741770-3' style='width:300px; height:250px;'>
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<div class="node-media"><img src="https://crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/node_primary/primary_image/16/11/santa_vlad.jpg" alt="Open Thread - First Christmas Carol Of 2016" title="Open Thread - First Christmas Carol Of 2016" width="640" height="456" class="imagecache imagecache-node_primary imagecache-default imagecache-node_primary_default"/></div><p><div class="qtinsert-image qtinsert-image-float-none"><div class="qt-insert-image-wrap"><img src="//crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/post_medium/images/16/11/barron_the_anchor_baby.jpg" alt="" title=""/></div></div></p><br style="clear:both" /> <div class="clab-inline-atend clearfix"><div class="clab-block clab-box-sized clearfix" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div class="clab-body" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div id='div-gpt-ad-1386288741770-3' style='width:300px; height:250px;'>
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<div class="node-media"></div><p>Long ago before phones had become sentient when great beasts like Triceratops and Sam Ervin walked the Earth, there were things called "Made for TV Movies". No kidding. You can look it up. On your sentient phone.</p>
<p>Anyway, a lot of these "Made for TV Movies" were delightfully wretched <cough> "Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land" <cough>, but some were pretty decent, including tonight's feature, "Haunts of the Very Rich". </cough></cough></p>
<p>Keep an eye on the strong performances by an excellent ensemble cast that includes Ed Asner, Lloyd Bridges, Cloris Leachman, Anne Francis, Moses Gunn and a standout turn by Robert Reed.</p>
<p>Also fans of "Lost" may notice some similarities between that six-year-long series about a group of strangers who are brought by some unseen power to an island where terrible and impossible things happen and this 1972 made-for-TV-movie about a group of strangers who are brought by some unseen power to an island where terrible and impossible things happen. And -- bonus! -- even if you don't like the ending, at least "Haunts of the Very Rich" doesn't drag it out for two years.</p><br style="clear:both" /> <div class="clab-inline-atend clearfix"><div class="clab-block clab-box-sized clearfix" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div class="clab-body" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div id='div-gpt-ad-1386288741770-3' style='width:300px; height:250px;'>
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<div class="node-media"><img src="https://crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/node_primary/primary_image/16/10/quatermassandthepit_poster.jpg" alt="C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater: Quatermass And The Pit (1967)" title="C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater: Quatermass And The Pit (1967)" width="640" height="427" class="imagecache imagecache-node_primary imagecache-default imagecache-node_primary_default"/></div><p>Terrific little British gem from the late 1960s (based on the 1958 BBC television production) brings together the London Underground (Which is not a political movement, Otto. I looked it up.), legends of devils and hauntings, neanderthals, race memory and the Red planet. </p>
<p>It was released in the United States under the title of "Five Millions Years to Earth" and was produced by "Hammer Films", which was notable for it's lean and efficient film-making and it's "Hammer Horror" films, which dominated the horror genre from the 1950s until the late 1960s. </p>
<p>So is this a horror film? Well, all I dare reveal of the plot is that "Quatermass And The Pit" begins with a skeleton <em>and ends with a Trump rally</em>...</p>
<p>...so watch and enjoy and have a very Happy Halloween!</p><br style="clear:both" /> <div class="clab-inline-atend clearfix"><div class="clab-block clab-box-sized clearfix" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div class="clab-body" style="width:300px; height:250px"><div id='div-gpt-ad-1386288741770-3' style='width:300px; height:250px;'>
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<div class="node-media"><img src="https://crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/node_primary/primary_image/16/10/colossus-1.jpg" alt=" C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater With &#039;The Colossus Of New York&#039; (1958)" title=" C&amp;L&#039;s Saturday Night Chiller Theater With &#039;The Colossus Of New York&#039; (1958)" width="640" height="487" class="imagecache imagecache-node_primary imagecache-default imagecache-node_primary_default"/></div><p>It all comes down to Mount Tambora I suppose.</p>
<p>Had it not erupted in 1815 and sealed the world into the long, cold "Year Without a Summer", then Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron would have been out enjoying summer fun of Lake Geneva instead of being stuck indoors when they convened in 1816.</p>
<p>Had it not erupted, there would have been no writing challenge from Byron to "each write a ghost story" to pass the time, and Mary Shelley would probably never had her terrifying "waking dream" of reanimating the dead that led her to write "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus".</p>
<p>So without Mary Shelley and Mount Tambora, world literature might never have invented the rich and durable horror genre of Science Run Amok, which means we would not have had tonight's feature: the 1958 minor classic, "The Colossus of New York". </p>
<p>Look for interesting shifts in photographic styles and point-of-view perspectives, Ross Martin, teletype machines, reel-to-reel computers, 16mm film, the United Nations, smoking (!) and people speculating about the possibility of automation making humans obsolete.</p>
<p>About the plot, let me just say that the scene where the Colossus is finally driven mad by his inability to find a Casual Male XL outlet anywhere on the island of Manhattan is simply...</p>
<p>No. No. I've said too much already.</p>
<p>You'll just have to watch and see.</p>Chiller TheaterSun, 23 Oct 2016 03:00:02 +0000driftglass124274 at https://crooksandliars.comFight! Scarborough And Kristol Tussle Over Who's To Blame For Trumphttps://crooksandliars.com/2016/10/fight-scarborough-and-kristol-tussle-over
<div class="node-media"></div><p>This morning, on Morning Joe we find the remnants of the GOP Donner Party squabbling bitterly over whose turn it is to wash the dishes and bury the bones (emphasis added to more easily guide your eye to the hilarity):</p>
<blockquote><p>
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Bill Kristol, it's all about changing the dynamics. Did anything happen last night that would have made anybody change their mind and go back to Donald Trump? </p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><p>
BILL KRISTOL: No, but I think something happened that would make some people leave Donald Trump. I don't like -- yes, on style points style was a little better in the first 30 minutes and he had a couple clever insults but that's not the point. The headline out of this debate is obviously the failure to say ahead of time that you will accept the results of the democratic election in America. Pretty unprecedented. Doesn't mean that there's going to be violence in the streets, certainly not if others now say who cares what Donald Trump says. -- </p></blockquote>
<p> <strong><br /> </strong><br />
<strong>Republican Detachment Disorder </strong> going pneumonic in 3..2...1...</p>
<blockquote><p>BILL KRISTOL: -- <strong>He's going to be a failed fluke presidential candidate and he should be ignored on election night and Republicans need so say that. </strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>MIKA BREZINSKI: Failed fluke? </p>
<p></p>
<p>KRISTOL: Yes. <strong>He won the nomination in a flukey way. </strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>BREZINSKI: Your people nominated him. That's not a fluke. </p>
<p></p><p><a href="https://crooksandliars.com/2016/10/fight-scarborough-and-kristol-tussle-over" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Bill KristolJoe ScarboroughMika BrezinskiMorning JoeRepublican PartyElection 2016Thu, 20 Oct 2016 18:30:00 +0000driftglass124219 at https://crooksandliars.comSurrogates' Effort To Cool Trump's Rhetoric? Fail. Again.https://crooksandliars.com/2016/10/surrogates-effort-cool-trumps-rhetoric
<div class="node-media"><img src="https://crooksandliars.com/files/imagecache/node_primary/primary_image/16/10/mike-pence-frown.jpg" alt="Surrogates&#039; Effort To Cool Trump&#039;s Rhetoric? Fail. Again." title="Surrogates&#039; Effort To Cool Trump&#039;s Rhetoric? Fail. Again." width="640" height="341" class="imagecache imagecache-node_primary imagecache-default imagecache-node_primary_default"/></div><p>Kim Jong Orange opened his gaping lie-hole this morning to set the record straight and cut off whatever was left of Mike Pence's yams by making it <strong>absolutely clear</strong> that by "rigged" he means the election will be stolen from him at the ballot box by <em>"large scale voter fraud".</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>From <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/301291-trump-of-course-there-is-large-scale-voter-fraud">The Hill:</a></p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Trump: 'Of course there is large scale voter fraud'</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Donald Trump on Monday claimed widespread voter fraud was taking place before Election Day, ramping up his charges that the presidential election is being rigged.</em></p>
<p><em><br /></em></p>
<p><em>Trump also criticized Republicans who have not backed up his claims. A number of GOP officials, including Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.), have said they are confident in the state election processes and safeguards.</em></p>
<p><em><br /></em></p>
<p><em>"Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day," the GOP nominee tweeted on Monday. "Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!"...</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p> Don't worry, Mike Pence; you'll still be able to sing in the wingnut choir.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You just can't sing bass anymore. </p>
<p>And to think, only yesterday, Trump had left the microphone to his surrogates. Big mistake, but for whom?</p><p><a href="https://crooksandliars.com/2016/10/surrogates-effort-cool-trumps-rhetoric" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Donald TrumpMike PenceNewt GingrichRigged ElectionRudy GuilianiSunday showsElection 2016Tue, 18 Oct 2016 02:00:18 +0000driftglass124105 at https://crooksandliars.com